Two Drownings and a Fatal Fire Mar Midsummer Celebrations in Latvia

The State Fire and Rescue Service (VUGD) reported several tragic incidents during the Midsummer festivities. On Līgo day, two people drowned in separate bodies of water.

At approximately 3:30 PM, rescuers were called to Penkule Parish in Dobele Municipality, where a person had gone swimming and vanished. The individual was found in the water but could not be revived. Shortly before midnight, another call came from Grundzāle Parish in Smiltenes Municipality, where a person was drowning in a pond. Bystanders pulled the victim out before VUGD arrived, but resuscitation efforts failed.

During the night of Jāņi, around 2:00 AM, a fire broke out in a first-floor apartment of a three-story residential building in Rēzekne, covering 20 square meters. One person perished in the flames. Firefighters used rescue masks to save three people – one injured person was handed over to medics, while two others had evacuated before the emergency services arrived.

Earlier on Līgo day, at about 1:30 PM, firefighters responded to a call on Plēksnes Street in Rīga, where burnt food on a stove in a first-floor apartment of a five-story building caused heavy smoke. One person and a dog were rescued from the smoke-filled apartment; the person sustained injuries and was treated by the Emergency Medical Service.

In the last 24 hours, VUGD received a total of 96 calls: 29 for firefighting, 18 for rescue operations, and 49 false alarms. Other incidents included fires in a shed, a transformer, a floor slab in a residential building, an uninhabited house, dry grass, a pile of branches, reeds, bushes, two garden houses, a car, a table, and multiple cases of waste.